Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only known planet in the universe which sprouted life. Earth was formed roughly 4.5 billion years ago and is the largest terrestrial planet in the solar system. Earth is the only planet in the solar system which is not named after Greek or Roman God.
Here are the 10 mind blowing facts about our lovely Blue Ball :
10. Earth was once believed to be the center of universe :
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This was quite natural. We saw stars, sun, planets move in the sky, which led to the conclusion that Earth is static and planets, moon, sun and stars revolve around us in concentric orbit. Later, Copernicus proposed his model of universe, placing Sun at the center of universe which is not true either. After further observations, it was realized that our Sun is one of billions of stars in the Milky-Way Galaxy, which itself is one of billions or maybe trillions of galaxies!
And we lost our prestigious status of being at the center.....
9. Earth is the strangest known planet :
Let us admit it - this ball of water is strange! Look at the other planets, they are sterile, lifeless and hostile worlds. Even though Mars and Venus were quite habitable, but they couldn't sustain it. Earth is the only known planet which has life on it, maybe the only planet with life in the entire universe. All the necessary conditions for life to evolve - inclination, oversized moon, plate tectonics, water, magnetic field - just happen to be here simultaneously which is very very rare!
8. Earth is the densest planet in solar system :
The density of Earth is not uniform, it varies from one place to another. For instance, the density of the core is more than the density of the crust. The average density of the Earth is approximately 5.52 grams per cubic centimeter. Earth is composed of 32.1% iron, 30.1% oxygen, 15.1% silicon and 13.9% magnesium. The Earth's crust is composed of 47% oxygen, which is present in different forms.
7. A day on Earth is not 24 hours :
Yes guys, we all are fooled!
The actual time that Earth takes to complete one rotation about its axis is 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds. This is referred as Sidereal Day. Earth's axis of rotation is also tilted to 23.4 degrees which produces different seasons.
But, this means that the day is 4 minutes shorter than we consider it, right? Well, we also have to consider the motion of the sun. We revolve around the Sun and at the same time Sun is also revolving around the center of the galaxy. When we consider all the little motions, it add up to become 24 hours. This is called as Solar Day.
The actual time that Earth takes to complete one rotation about its axis is 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds. This is referred as Sidereal Day. Earth's axis of rotation is also tilted to 23.4 degrees which produces different seasons.
But, this means that the day is 4 minutes shorter than we consider it, right? Well, we also have to consider the motion of the sun. We revolve around the Sun and at the same time Sun is also revolving around the center of the galaxy. When we consider all the little motions, it add up to become 24 hours. This is called as Solar Day.
6. A year is also not 365 days :
Again! It actually takes Earth 365.256 days to revolve around the Sun. This extra 0.256 days is the reason we have leap years every four years(2004, 2008, etc.). The years is not considered a leap year if it is divisible by 100 (1900, 2100, etc.) at the same time it should not be divisible by 400, i.e. years 2000 is leap year since it is divisible by 400.
5. Earth's core creates a dynamo :
Earth acts like a giant magnet with magnetic poles near the geographic poles. The magnetic field is generated by the the outer molten core of Earth. This magnetic field extends outward from the core, through the mantle and thousands of kilometers into space. The extent of the magnetic field in space is known as the Magnetosphere.
The magnetosphere is one of the most important reasons which made evolution of life possible on Earth. The magnetosphere deflects the solar wind - highly energetic beam of charged particles - and keep the surface safe from the harmful radiation of Sun. On the other hand, our neighbor Mars which once had water and maybe life does not have strong magnetosphere which exposes the surface with harmful radiation - uninhabitable.
4. The extreme points on Earth :
The surface of Earth does not have the same elevation from the sea level. Some of the parts are very high while some are very deep. Summit of Mount Everest has the highest elevation from the sea level with the altitude of 8,848 metres. On the other hand, Mariana Trench in the western Pacific is the deepest place on Earth with a depth of 10,911 metres.
However, Earth is not a perfect sphere. Due to its rotation Earth bulges at the equator and flattens at the poles. This shape is called oblate spheroid. Due to this shape the equatorial diameter is 43 kilometer more than pole-to-pole distance! So, if we consider the highest point on the basis of the distance from the center of Earth then it is actually peak of the equatorial Volcano Chimborazo in Ecuador.
However, Earth is not a perfect sphere. Due to its rotation Earth bulges at the equator and flattens at the poles. This shape is called oblate spheroid. Due to this shape the equatorial diameter is 43 kilometer more than pole-to-pole distance! So, if we consider the highest point on the basis of the distance from the center of Earth then it is actually peak of the equatorial Volcano Chimborazo in Ecuador.
3. Earth has a over-sized Moon :
Moon is supposed to be formed around 60 million years after the formation of the solar system. The Moon is the largest satellite relative to the size of its planet, though, Charon is larger relative to dwarf planet Pluto. The Moon is the fifth largest satellite in the solar system with a average radius of 1737 kilometers. It is the second densest satellite in the solar system after Io with a density of 3.3464 grams per cubic centimeter.
The gravitational interaction between Earth and Moon creates tides in the ocean. The distance between the Moon and Earth is increasing every year. It has been found that the Moon is going away from the Earth at the rate of 38 mm per year!
The gravitational interaction between Earth and Moon creates tides in the ocean. The distance between the Moon and Earth is increasing every year. It has been found that the Moon is going away from the Earth at the rate of 38 mm per year!
2. Earth's rotation is gradually slowing down :
The Earth's rotation about its axis is slowing down every year due to gravitational interaction and tidal friction with sun, moon and other heavenly bodies. Due to this, the length of the day is increasing. Length of day is increasing approximately at the rate of 17 millisecond every hundred years, though it is not uniform. It is expected that in 140 million years from now the length of day will become 25 hours.
1. Everything has to end someday :
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| Once the Sun gets like this, it's game over (Credit: Detlev van Ravenswaay/SPL) |
One day everything has to end, and this is true with our planet as well. In a billion years from now Sun's luminosity will increase by 10% and by 40% in 3.5 billion years. Due to increasing temperature the surface water will disappear in a billion years from now with surface temperature about 70 degrees Celsius. However, the life won't last that long, it is expected to last till photosynthesis ends around 100-900 million years from now.
As the Sun increase in size and become a red giant about 5 billion years from now, it will loose around 30% of its mass. The radius of Sun will become 250 times more than it is today and will reach a peak luminosity 5000 times more! Mercury and Venus will surely enter Sun's atmosphere and vaporize. While the fate of Earth is unclear. Some simulations show that the Earth's orbit will decay and it will enter Sun's atmosphere and vaporize, while some predict that, as the mass of Sun decreased the gravitational interaction between Earth and Sun will decrease and radius of the orbit of Earth will increase. We cannot say for sure which scenario is true.
The Earth is the most beautiful planets out there and we need to preserve it. Though it will end someday we must make sure that life and consciousness survive that long and continue on some other place. Earth has carefully nurtured the life on it and we must ensure that this rare event that took place in the universe will serve a good cause. There are a lot of beautiful things in the universe and we must make sure that there exist life to see it, otherwise universe will be wasted.
As the Sun increase in size and become a red giant about 5 billion years from now, it will loose around 30% of its mass. The radius of Sun will become 250 times more than it is today and will reach a peak luminosity 5000 times more! Mercury and Venus will surely enter Sun's atmosphere and vaporize. While the fate of Earth is unclear. Some simulations show that the Earth's orbit will decay and it will enter Sun's atmosphere and vaporize, while some predict that, as the mass of Sun decreased the gravitational interaction between Earth and Sun will decrease and radius of the orbit of Earth will increase. We cannot say for sure which scenario is true.
The Earth is the most beautiful planets out there and we need to preserve it. Though it will end someday we must make sure that life and consciousness survive that long and continue on some other place. Earth has carefully nurtured the life on it and we must ensure that this rare event that took place in the universe will serve a good cause. There are a lot of beautiful things in the universe and we must make sure that there exist life to see it, otherwise universe will be wasted.
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